


Foliage in the Woods

by ac_MaryAgnes



Category: The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Episode: s01e03 Tell It To The Frogs, F/M, Lori thinks before opening her mouth, Rick has no idea what's coming, Shane just loves her a lot, but that's it, like he makes a quick cameo, not really - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-16
Updated: 2018-07-16
Packaged: 2019-06-11 05:17:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,058
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15308313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ac_MaryAgnes/pseuds/ac_MaryAgnes
Summary: “You told me he was dead.”If Lori had taken a minute to think when Rick had come back.





	Foliage in the Woods

**Author's Note:**

> "My love for Linton is like the foliage in the woods: time will change it, I'm well aware, as winter changes the trees. My love for Heathcliff resembles the eternal rocks beneath: a source of little visible delight, but necessary." - Emily Bronte (Catherine Earnshaw : 'Wuthering Heights')
> 
> *Sigh* It's been a while, but I guess I'm still not done. Still love these two; still see Cathy and Heathcliff; still only a little sorry. 
> 
> Still not beta'd.

Lori sat next to her husband around the fire and concentrated very hard on keeping her face blank. She had no idea what she was supposed to do now and it would be easy – all too easy – to go back to the way things were before the world went crazy. Rick was alive and real and happy – overjoyed – to see her. And she was equally overjoyed to see him, but…

But her eyes met Shane’s across the fire and her breath caught. His expression was unreadable but those dark eyes of his… questioning, longing, pleading; it was all too obvious when she looked at him. And she wanted him, _good lord_ did she want him. Shane had proven to be a true protector through all this craziness. He understood her, knew what she needed even if she hated needing it. He’d risked his life to save her and Carl, gotten them out of King County and away from Atlanta. Everything he did, Lori knew it was for them. The way he was with Carl; the way he knew her, her body…

Lori licked her lips and made herself look away. She thanked god it was dark, and told herself whatever heat flew to her cheeks was due to the fire rather than her own wandering imagination.

After Carl had been put to bed, Rick gave her a smile - boyish and a little sly - and tried to draw her in. She put her hands up and stopped him. 

“You get ready for bed,” she whispered. “I, uh… I need to talk to-to Shane for a bit.”

Rick frowned and ducked his head to try to keep her eye, going from rascally to concerned in a surprisingly quick turnaround. “Everything okay?”

“Yeah,” she was quick to assure him. “Everything is fine. I just gotta talk to him for a bit.”

Shane was up on Dale’s RV pulling watch. For a second, she thought he was going to pop right out of his seat and jump down to her when he saw her leave the tent. She waved him back and he stayed in the lawn chair as she climbed up, but he was practically vibrating when she got to him. She sat, bringing her arms up around her knees. Everything in her was screaming that he’d lied to her, that he had known Rick was alive and left him for dead, that he had used it to get close to her. But Shane had always been honest with her in the past, and he loved Rick like a brother. So now she thought very carefully before she opened her mouth.

“You told me he was dead.”

“Lori, I swear to god I thought he was.” Shane’s voice was rough, his words coming out in a rush. “I went to get him and all the machines were off – it was chaos in there. So I – I put my ear to his chest and there was no heartbeat. He-he _didn’t have a heartbeat_ , Lori. If he did, I would have gotten him outta there, I swear – I _swear_ to you I would have gotten him out.”

Lori turned her eyes to the ground in front of the RV and nodded. She was trying, honestly trying, not to fly off the handle and jump to conclusions. She owed it to him to give him the benefit of the doubt – and hadn’t he been telling her not to go off half-cocked? Her gut was screaming at her that he was lying, but she knew – _she knew_ – that he wasn’t, that Shane was being as honest with her as he could.

“I, uh… I love Rick. You know that. He’s Carl’s dad and he’s a good man and…. But the end of the world happened an-and I don’t know what I want, Shane. Rick is my husband, but you and I have something and I don’t know what I want or what I’m _doing_ and-“

“Heyhey,” Shane shushed her, reaching towards her. His large, warm hand grasped her elbow and when she looked up at him, his face was open and his eyes held nothing but warmth. “We’ve all been through a lot, Lor. Taking your time to think things through is…. It’ll be fuckin’ torture,” he huffed out with a soft laugh, “but it’s a good thing. I know… Rick told me a little bit of how things were before all this shit happened and… that stuff might not go away just ‘cause… you know.”

Lori swallowed and nodded. Moving slowly, she slid her elbow out from his grasp but caught his hand with hers, tangling their fingers together.

“Rick is my husband,” she repeated, barely audible in the stillness of the night, “but I like what we have. I like the way you make me feel, and the way you look after Carl. I hate the way you keep me from doing shit sometimes, like the signs, but I think we make a good team. And I…” Lori took a deep breath, steadying herself before she said anything too revealing. Whatever she and Shane were, she wasn't ready to admit to anything just yet. “Rick is back but I don’t want to lose this, Shane. And I don’t know what the right thing to do is.”

Abandoning the rifle at his side, Shane brought her knuckles up to his mouth with both hands, pressing them against his lips. Lori had to scoot closer to him to avoid stretching awkwardly and ended up gripping his thigh with her free hand. His thumb rubbed against her rings, but his eyes held hers.

“I want you all the time,” he whispered, breathing into her knuckles. “I want you next to me, fighting and smiling and laughing. I wanna figure this new world out with you, and I think we can make something safe and real out of it. I think we _have_ something real – hell, I _know_ we do.”

His fingers speared through her hair and tugged her closer. Rising up onto her knees, Lori allowed herself to be drawn in. Their lips met and it was the same thrill, the same warmth, the same rightness she’d felt since the world ended. However it had started, this feeling – this man – had become so much a part of her life.

Lori couldn’t imagine going without it now.

**Author's Note:**

> To like, the five people who are going to read this, I'm sorry it's so short. And no, I'm not being self-deprecating - this is not a popular 'ship and I knew that going in. Also, I wrote the majority of these when I was supposed to be studying for my NCLEX exam. I passed my exam, so that must mean they're like... good luck or something, right? So I guess, if you leave a comment or whatever, that would be something like double good luck. 
> 
> Or maybe I'm reaching; whatever.


End file.
